Articles Tagged with ''Rural Energy for America Program''

The Democratic-controlled Senate on Sunday passed an historic package of financial incentives for cutting U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, including a dramatic increase in farm bill conservation programs aimed at spurring farmers to adopt climate-related farming practices.

Lawmakers are laying the groundwork to recharge the Rural Energy for America Program, a USDA initiative to bankroll clean and renewable energy from rural areas and farms.

The Department of Agriculture plans to distribute some $633 million in loans and grants aimed at bolstering rural power infrastructure and making higher blends of biofuels more available to consumers.

Leading farm groups united with two major environmental groups to release on Tuesday more than 40 policy proposals aimed at helping farmers benefit economically from reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions while helping growers become more resilient amid climate change.

The White House is asking Congress for $45.8 billion to cover the rising cost to the Agriculture Department and other departments and agencies of responding to the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal dollars have been a major catalyst in advancing renewable power, but industry officials say that government support going forward could be affected by proposed federal regulatory revisions and possible action in Congress. 

With solar and wind power systems getting cheaper and coal prices steadily rising, America's rural areas are, often with the help of grants, loans, and tax breaks, getting in step with the global pursuit of renewable power.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is proposing a sweeping 10-year plan to carry out the Green New Deal and reshape U.S. agriculture through regulations and subsidies to reduce its environmental impact and push farmers into organic methods and smaller scales of production.